Messages - tubercle

I've used Juniper a good bit with varying results. I have always been intrigued with the way things used to be done and the twist and turns that got process to where the are today. My understanding is Juniper was originally used in Scandinavian countries.

I've used them at all different times in the boil but have found the full length of the boil to be best, for me at least. There is good bittering potential but the latter additions don't seem to do much as for as aroma or taste. Seeping in the primary does good though. I guess the etoh leeches out the resin and gives that gin like taste & aroma but more piney and woody like.

I lined the mash tun with red cedar branches once because of an old recipe. It described how the mash vessel, a big wood barrel, would be lined with Juniper branches to create a filter bed, filled with water and malt grains, and then the brewers would start filling the vessel with red hot rocks until the steam was coming off the water steadily. After a period of time a plug would be pulled on the bottom to drain the wort into a boil vessel with the branches acting as a filter for the grains and then more hot rocks added to bring to a boil where spices and herbs would be added.

The time I tried it there was a very slight flavor but it did do a decent job of filtering. I did have some braid in there too

OK, got a question for the bourbon drinkers then. In the current issue of Men's Health they claim Old Gand-Dad came out on top in a blind taste test. Looks like this stuff is $18 for a 1.75l. Anyone tried this stuff?

BTW: Smirnoff came out on top for Vodka - definitely wrong on that one IMO.

I have never been invited to M.I.T to lecture on the intricacies of thermodynamics, but...

It seems like the flat design you are suggesting would only cool a 3/8" thick portion of the entire column of wort and rely on convection currents to equalize to cool the rest where as a stacked design will be cooling the entire column at the same time.

We have all felt the bottom of the kettle during cooling and found to much cooler than the top so I see your concern. I use a long handle ss spoon to give a swirl every 5 minutes or so and get the temps down in about 20 minutes with a 50' stacked design of 3/8". I think your suggestion may take much longer.

Mesquite "mild"? I guess it could depend what form and how you use it, but mesquite always to me has the sharpest, strongest flavor of the smoking woods...its very distinct, but I have ruined meat before by using too much mesquite. Now I don't use it for long term smokes. Once had a brisket come out tasting like I used cigarette butts in the marinade.

Now for grilling steaks mesquite has few equals as a fuel!

I'd like to get some pecan chunks though. Not as common up here.

Maybe mild wasn't a good description. I agree it can be overpowering. I usually use it in the last 30 minutes. I think what I meant was its not as acrid or bitter as hickory can be or at least to my taste. Mesquite has a sweet taste to me also, which is not necessarily bad.

If you have ever used applewood, I think pecan compares to that on the strong/mild scale. If you can find unshelled pecans in your area it has the benefit of having the nuts to make a pie with or roast in the oven with a little garlic salt and the leftover hulls to smoke with. Just soak the hulls in water for about 45 minutes before throwing them in the fire

What sort of flavor does pecan wood lend to your chicken? I've heard that pecan is a relatively close approximation to pimento wood, which is the wood Jamaicans use to smoke jerk-style meats. I know a guy who opened a caribbean BBQ just outside of the Twin Cities and he uses pimento wood imported from Jamaica. Aside from finding a direct source (i.e., Jamaican supplier), the only pimento wood that I've found in the U.S. comes as chips, not chunks.

Pecan is in between hickory and mesquite best as I can describe. I've never tried pimento wood so I can't compare with it.It's not as strong as hickory but mild like mesquite with out the sweetness. It's pretty much a staple wood in the south east for all kinds of smoking. They are everywhere around here. I've got six in my yard.

Not only the wood works but the nut shells. I usually get 2 or 3 bushels of pecans from my trees every year so I have plenty shells. If it wasn't for the squirrels I'd have twice that much